Method of winding yarn



4, 1965 w. H. O'BRIEN 3,202,370

METHOD OF WINDING YARN Filed Sept. 12, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MAL/4M A! Jae/EN ATTORNEY 1965 w. H. OBRIEN 3,202,370

METHOD OF WINDING YARN Filed Sept. 12. 1961 F/G. 5 M

\ DRUM 3 Sheets-Sheet I2 BASE NOSE 'Lla INVENTOR W/LL/AM H OISE/EN ATTORNEY 4, 1965 w. H. O'BRIEN 3,202,370

METHOD OF WINDING YARN Filed Sept. 12, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 DRUM ROTA'HON HELIX RETURN ANGLE EQUALS B; TURNS meux LEAD ANGLE EQUALS ZIITURNS I NVENTOR WILL/4M H. O'BRIEN BY W/ZdW ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,2d2,37i ME'i'Hfli) 6F VENDING YARN William H. Uiirien, Warwick, R1, assignor to Leesona Corporation, Cranston, Rh, a corporation of Massachusetts Fiied Sept. 12, 196i, Ser. No. 137,544 4 Claims. (Ci. Mil-43,2)

This invention relates to an improved method of winding yarn.

In the specification and in the accompanying drawings, the invention is shown and described in connection with the winding of a conical yarn package, in which capacity it finds its greatest utility, though it is to be understood that the invention may advantageously be adapted and employed for the winding of generally cylindrical yarn packages as well.

In conventional methods :of winding yarn, the yarn cop or package is driven by peripheral contact with a grooved traverse roll which provides not only the means for rotating the package, but in addition is provided with reversely pitched interconnected grooves in its surface for receiving and guiding the yarn in a manner to traverse it axially back and forth lengthwise of the package being wound to thus gradually build up the package in overlying layers of generally helical coils.

It has been customary in such winding to traverse the yarn back and forth on the package in such manner that its speed of traverse in opposite axial directions in any given axial location on the package being wound will be the same. Accordingly, the guide grooves on the traverse roll or drum which govern this speed will normally have their oppositely pitched portions arranged generally symmetrically to the axis of the roll. Normally in winding a cylinder the pitch of each groove will be constant throughout its length to maintain a uniform diameter of the package, although in winding a cone shaped package it is customary to progressively increase the pitch of the grooves in a direction from the base to the nose of the cone in order to maintain substantially equal distribution of the windings throughout the length of the cone. In such event the arrangement .of the oppositely pitched and interconnected grooves will nevertheless normally be symmetrically disposed about the axis of the traverse roll.

It is, of course, of considerable importance that the yarn be traversed back and forth on the package at the maximum possible speed. Such speed is limited by various factors including, among other things, the particular shape and arrangement of the grooves in the traverse roll. The problems thus involved are generally disclosed in the prior U.S. Patents to Reece 1,749,355, granted March 4, 1930, and to Bood 1,836,105, granted December 15, 1931.

The present invention makes use of the realization that in its traversal movement the yarn leading onto the package extends and is so guided that it is traversed by swinging it about a generally predetermined fanning point located axially abreast of approximately the mid-point of the roll in an axial direction and, in the absence of the traversing action, would normally tend to wind onto the roll in the plane of this mid-point or mid-section of the roll in a direction extending from its fanning point perpendicularly to the axis of the roll.

Thus, as the yarn is traversed from this normal or generally neutral path outwardly toward either end of the roll and thus is deflected further and further from its natural path, it tends increasingly to resist the deflecting or traversing action of the roll, with increased tendency for it to leave the guide grooves of the roll, particularly at the intersections of the oppositely pitched grooves or groove portions. This has been one of the factors limiting the speed at which the yarn can be successfully traversed at a given tension.

With this in mind the method of the present invention includes the concept of relatively decreasing the traversal movement of the yarn from the mid-point of the roll outwardly toward either end thereof, preferably in a progressive manner whereby to compensate for the progressively increasing resistance to the traverse movement as the yarn is deflected away from its normal path above mentioned. Conversely, the invention includes the concept of traversing the yarn back inwardly toward the mid-point of the roll from either end at a higher rate of speed as contrasted to its outward traversing movement, thereby effectively making use of the existing tendency of the yarn to return to its normal path approximately at the mid-section of the roll.

Although the foregoing method of varying the rate of travel or traverse of the yarn at different points or in different directions of its traverse might appear to be undesirable as resulting in the deformation of the shape of the yarn package being wound, it has been found practical in accordance with the invention to overcome this seeming defect. This is accomplished by so interrelating the relative differences in the rates of traverse in opposite directions at any given axial location along the roll that the deformity imparted to the shape of the resulting package caused by variations in the traverse in one direction will be compensated for by the deforming effect of the variations in traverse in the op posite direction whereby to form an accurately shaped yarn package.

Moreover, by virtue of the variations in the rates of traverse of the yarn in opposite directions at given points along the package being formed, it has been found possible in connection with the winding of conical yarn packages in particular to gradually increase the taper of the package during its formation to a substantially greater extent than has heretofore been possible by conventional methods. This is particularly beneficial where such packages are used as a supply on a knitting; machine due to the fact that the increase in taper reduces plucks, and allows the yarn to be delivered under a more uniform tension than would be the case with yarn packages wound by conventional methods.

Although the method of the invention finds its most useful application when carried out by means of a suitably formed or grooved traverse roll, it obviously may be carried out through use of other yarn traversing means than a roll and, therefore, the method of the present invention is not limited to the use of a roll as distinguished from some other conventional means modified in the manner required to carry out the process.

It is to be. understood that various modifications of the method may readily be made by persons skilled in the art and that it is the purpose of the present application and claims to include such modifications as well as the embodiments of the invention specifically illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 represents a plan view of a portion of a conventional winding machine having a traverse roll in accordance with the invention applied thereto in place of the conventionally grooved roll.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the traverse roll shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a rolled out or developed view of the traverse roll of the preceding figures showing in detail the improved groove formation in the preferred form for carrying out the method of the instant invention.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing a modified arrangement of the groove formation in. the traverse roll.

. plate from a usual source of supply.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated in FIGURE 1 a generally conventional arrangement of the various parts of a yarn winding machine insofar as they are related to the instant invention. Thus the numeral designates the usual supporting plate or bracket for the conventional arrangement of the various yarn tensioning and servicing elements which will include normally a guide 11 through which the yarn is led across the upper surface of the From the guide 11 it will be seen that the yarn, which is designated Y, extends through and is acted upon by the usual tensioning discs 12, thence is led beneath the usual rotating wax applicator 13 and through a conventional slub catcher or catchers generally designated 14 and under a guide 15 from which it is then led over the surface of the traverse roll 16 and wound onto a usual form of cop to form a conventional conical or tapered package designated P.

In the present instance the traverse roll 16 is fixed on a drive shaft 17 rotatably supported through a bearing 18 on the winding machine frame, and the package P is rotatably supported in driven frictional engagement with the roll 16 at the free end of a swingable arm 19. The construction and arrangement of these several generally described parts and their manner of cooperation may be as described in the United States Patent to Good- .hue et al. No. 2,764,362, granted September 25, 1956. As is well known, the roll 16 is formed in its cylindrical surface with relatively intersecting and relatively oppositely pitched guide grooves and 21 respectively which are axially coextensive and are interconnected at their opposite axial ends. It is the function of these interconnected grooves to receive and traverse the yarn Y axially back and forth from the base to the smaller diameter end or nose of the package P to build up the package gradually by series of generally helical yarn windings. The arrangement is such that as the diameter of the package P is progressively increased by the winding action, it is freely supported at the end of the arm 19 so that its axis may be gradually displaced away from that of the roll, though it will remain in peripheral driven engagement with the roll surface.

The grooves 20 and 21 are illustrated as being generally V-shaped in cross section whereby the sides of the grooves will tend to receive and to cam the yarn into the bottom or apex of the groove as designated by the lines 22 and 23 respectively. Each time the yarn arrives at either end of the roll the communicating ends 24 or 25 of the interconnected grooves (FIGURE 3) cause it to reverse its direction of traverse automatically. Since the bottom or apex 22, 23 of the interconnected grooves determines the actual path of traverse, it may be also looked to as establishing the actual pitch or shape of the respective grooves.

As'seen in FIGURE 1 the yarn Y is in the normal or neutral position which it would assume in the absence of any grooves in the cylindrical roll 16, in which position it will be seen to extend in a line coincident with a radical plane located approximately midway between the ends of the roll, the said plane being designated in FIGURE 3 for reference purposes by the broken line M-M.

. Now considering particularly the groove formation in FIGURE 3, it will be seen that as the roll or drum In is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in that figure, the point of contact of the yarn within the respective grooves 20 and 21 will move relatively to the roll and along the grooves in the manner indicated by the several small arrows alongside the grooves in FIG- URE 3. Thus from the interconnection 24 between the grooves at the base end of the roll, the yarn will move along the lead groove 20 to the nose end of the cylinder or roll until it reaches the interconnection 25 at said end extends for exactly two turns around the roll.

at which time it will commence its return movement back toward the base through groove 21.

Now, particularly comparing the lead groove 20 with the return groove 21, it will be noted by comparison of these grooves in FIGURE 3 that the length of the portion Ziia of groove 20 extending from the base inter section 24 to the plane MM at the midpoint of the roll is of lesser length and, therefore, of somewhat greater pitch than the corresponding portion 21a of re turn groove 21. Thus it will be apparent that the rate of traverse movement of the yarn inwardly along groove portion 29a from the intersection 24 to the mid-point 'MM of the roll will be greater than the rate of its return movement from MM to the intersection 24 through the return groove portion 21a.

Gn the other hand, the distance along the remaining portion 26b of the lead groove 2% from the mid-point MM out to the nose intersection 25 is greater than the length of its corresponding return groove section 21b and, therefore, the lead-out 'groove section Ztib is of lesser overall pitch than the corresponding return groove section 21b. Thus the rate of traverse of the yarn outwardly from the mid-point of the roll toward the nose end thereof will be relatively slower than its return traverse movement along the higher pitched groove section 21b back to the mid-point generally designated by the plane M-M.

The greater length of the groove portion 23a as contrasted to that of groove portion 214: is thus compensated for by the relatively greater length of groove portion 21!) as contrasted to its corresponding axially coextensive portion 23b, so that the total angular extent of the two grooves 20 and 21 is equal. In other words, in the embodiment shown each such groove 20 and 21 Obviously where the relatively decreasing pitch groove portions 2% and 21a will tend jointly to concentrate a disproportionate number of windings along the mid-section of the package being wound, this deforming tendency is offset by the counter-tendency of the groove sections 20a and 21b by their increasing pitch toward the roll center or mid-point M-M, to concentrate the windings towards the ends of the package being formed. Thus in accordance with the invention the desired changes in speed of traverse are readily achieved while avoiding distortion of the resulting package shape.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that as the roll 16 is rotated during the winding operation to traverse the yarn Y back and forth about its fanning point (generally designated F in FIGURE 1) in an axial direction from the base to the nose of the package P being wound, the traverse of the yarn will be comparatively fast in a direction from the ends of the roll toward the mid-point thereof and will thus take advantage of the natural tendency of the yarn and the forces acting thereon to return to and maintain this position, while at the same time the outward traverse away from this position toward either end of the roll will be at a relatively slower rate of traverse, thereby to better overcome the increased resistance to such outward movement as caused by the tendency of the yarn to return toward this normal path.

The generally increasing pitch of both grooves 20 and 21 in a direction from the base toward the nose end of the roll is necessitated in the present instance by virtue of the fact that the roll is adapted for use in wind i ng a conical package, in which case it is necessary to traverse the yarn at a gradually increasing rate toward the nose of the package and at a gradually decreasing rate on its return toward the base, simply in order to provide a generally equal distribution of the yarn on the package and thereby maintain the desired shape of the package. It will be understood, of course, that the shape modification of the grooves in accordance with the instant inaeoasvo vention is superimposed on this existing requirement as to change of pitch. However, this would not necessarily be so for obvious reasons where the roll is adapted for winding a cylinder or cylindrical package, in which case the need for the pitch changes as required in winding a cone are not present.

In the modified groove conformation as illustrated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, substantially the same results are achieved in actual practice as in the case of the preferred groove conformation shown in FIGURE 3. In the modified form of the invention, however, the pitch of the lead groove 2% has been comparatively decreased throughout its length as contrasted to a conven tional groove arrangement by increasing the number of turns of this groove 2% from the base to the nose. At the same time this has been compensated for by decreas ing the number of turns in the return groove Ztll by an amount equal to the angular extent of the increase of lead groove 2%.

In the instant embodiment it will be seen that the lead groove extends around the roll for two-and-onequarter turns, while the return groove 291 extends around the roll for but one-and-three-quarters turns. Thus in the forming of the packages, the lead groove 2% applies the windings in somewhat closer spaced relation on the package than is usually the case and this is compensated for by the fact that the return groove 2M applies the various windings in relatively greater spaced relation than has heretofore been the case. The compensatory action of each groove with respect to the deforming action of the other is such as to produce a substantially true conical form in the package when wound and the relatively different angles and spacings of the windings in the relatively reverse directions on the cone tends to produce an improved package. The method carried out by use of the roll of this modification, therefore, permits an increase in the taper of the packages without distortion during their winding to a greater extent than is possible with conventional traverse rolls. Thus when the completed yarn packages are utilized as a supply for a knitting machine, the increased taper allows the yarn to be delivered at a more uniform tension and achieves the benefits heretofore pointed out.

In this modification, the length of the lead groove portion or section 26%;: from the base end to the mid-point designated by the line MM of the roll is greater and, therefore, its overall pitch is less than is the case with the axially coextensive portion 261a of the return groove 261. Thus the traverse of the yarn in a direction from the base to the mid-point of the roll will be at a somewhat slower rate than the corresponding return traverse from the midpoint back to the base through the groove section 201a. However, this is not such a critical tactor at the base end or half of the roll when same is used for winding a cone, for the reason that the speed of traverse at this end of the roll must normally be less than that from the mid-point to the nose in any event. In other words, as has heretofore been pointed out, the rate of traverse in a direction from the base to the nose must be progressively accelerated in order to properly distribute the windings upon the .cone and avoid distortion thereof. Thus the limit of the speed of traverse is determined by the pitch of the grooves adjacent the nose end of the roll rather than at the relatively lower speed traverse adjacent the base end.

On the other hand, the length of the lead groove section Ztltlb from the midpoint MM to the nose end of the roll is greater and its overall pitch is, therefore, less than is the case with the corresponding axially coextensive return groove section 201b, so that in accordance with the invention the yarn will traverse outwardly from the t5 mid-portion to the nose of the package being formed at a rate appreciably slower than the rate of its return traverse. This occurs as the yarn is traversed toward and away from the nose end of the roll at the portion thereof where the relative speeds of traverse become critical in the formation of a conical package.

It will be readily apparent that though only the preferred embodiment and one modification of the invention have been specifically disclosed herein, other modified forms of the invention and of its several details will be obvious from the foregoing description. Such modifications are intended to be included with the inventive concept as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of winding yarn onto a conical package comprising the steps of rotating the package while positively traversing the yarn axially back and forth between the base and the nose thereof wherein said yarn is positively traversed from approximately the mid-point of said package to said nose at a predetermined accelerating rate of speed and is positively traversed from said nose to said approximate midpoint at a predetermined decelerating rate of speed, said deceleration being at a greater rate than said acceleration.

Z. The method of winding yarn onto a conical package comprising the steps of rotating the package while positively traversing the yarn axial-1y back and forth between the base and the nose thereof wherein said yarn is positively traversed from approximately the mid-point of said package to said nose at a predetermined accelerating rate of speed and is positively traversed from said nose to said approximate mid-point at a predetermined decelerating rate of speed, said deceleration being at a greater rate than said acceleration, and is positively traversed from said approximate mid-point to the base of said package at a predetermined decelerating rate of speed and is positively traversed from said base to said midpoint at a predetermined accelerating rate of speed Wlh6l6ln said last mentioned acceleration is at a greater rate than said last mentioned deceleration.

3. The method according to claim 1 in which the deforming tendency on the shape of the package incident to changes in speed of the traverse in one direction is compensated for by the changes of speed in the traverse in the opposite direction.

4. The method of winding yarn in a conical package, comprising the steps of rotating the package while positively traversing yarn axially back and forth between the base and the nose thereof, the speed at which the yarn is traversed being a relatively slow positive and predetermined accelerating rate from the base to the nose of the package, and the speed at which the yarn is traversed being at a comparatively faster positive and predetermined decelerating rate from the nose to the base of the package.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,009,014 7/ 3 5 Leeson 242-43 2 2,431,876 12/47 Mackie 242-432 FOREIGN PATENTS 674,615 6/ 52 Great Brita-in. 677,552 8/ 52 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH P. ST-RIZAK, RUSSELL C, MADER,

Examiners. 

1. THE METHOD OF WINDING YARN ONTO A CONICAL PACKAGE COMPRISING THE STEPS OF ROTATING THE PACKAGE WHILE POSITIVELY TRAVERSING THE YARN AXIALLY BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE BASE AND THE NOSE THEREOF WHEREIN SAID YARN IS POSITIVELY TRAVERSED FROM APPROXIMATELY THE MID-POINT OF SAID PACKAGE TO SAID NOSE AT A PREDETERMINED ACCELERATING RATE OF SPEED AND IS POSITIVELY TRAVERSED FROM SAID NOSE TO SAID APPROXIMATE MID-POINT AT A PREDETERMINED DECELERATING RATE OF SPEED, SAID DECELERATION BEING AT A GREATER RATE THAN SAID ACCELERATION. 